The Institute of Scholars and Scientists
by thepages
Summary: The world is run by a coalition of academics known as the Institute of Scholars and Scientists. Rather than promoting learning and reading, they confine the people to limited knowledge and feed them only what can be controlled. Books are becoming less safe as technology and the ISS reports increasingly replace them. Sahara soon learns how to read Original Text, but at a cost.
1. Chapter 1

_"It was the hugest ...oof! hugestest water wall I evered see!"_

_The little girl scrambled to pick herself off the floor, her eyes wide and hands waving above her head. Her mother shifted in her chair._

_"Is that so, darling? Well, don't worry about that anymore. It's time for you to go to bed."_

_The little girl was still prancing around the floor, re-telling the few soldiers and servants exactly how high the waves had been, when her mother nodded to her nanny._

_"Li'l miss, that's enough for tonight. Your mummy is a bit tired and needs her rest. Now, off to bed with ya, luv!"_

_The nanny gathered the little girl in her arms and listened to her story while carrying her off to her room._

_"Leave us, please," the matriarch commanded. The soldiers, servants, and nobles turned out of the room, bowing or nodding their heads as they passed her. When the room was cleared, the queen immediately stood up. The edges of her robe fluttered as she walked toward an open window. The night was cool against her face and as she looked up, she saw so many lights, they almost looked like stars. But she knew better than that._

_"Gowan." A man propped against a far wall straightened and walked toward her, bowing as he flipped his hood back. When he moved, you could almost see the small patches of grey that peppered his dark hair. When he stood up and looked at the queen, he immediately frowned._

_"I want to know how they were able to pull off something of this scale and why we were not aware of it."_

_"My queen," he paused then continued, "I apologize, but that should not be our primary concern at the moment."_

_She waited._

_"It seems there is something more sinister than what they have let on."_

* * *

I slammed the book shut. Too dramatic. The blue glow surrounding the book suddenly vanished, the characters being sucked back into the book. A quiet _click!_ escaped one last time before all was silent. I glanced at my watch then slid my hands over a few other covers scattered across the wooden table, coming to rest on one, in particular. Scooping it up in one hand, I flipped it open to see where I had last left off when I saw a shadow cross the table. I slowly closed the book.

"Books," she hissed, "are not toys." I looked to find myself staring at a young woman dressed in a white shirt, her eyes keen on the book in my hand. A strand of her white hair fell over her glasses. as she finished speaking. Scary.

"Yes" is all I said. She started to move but I quickly stood up and grabbed the books farthest from me. "Yes, I agree." I stacked them a few at a time, gathering them first into a pile more to protect them from her than anything else.

She straightened herself and crossed her arms, pretending to fiddle with her blue bracelet. I glanced down at my own. "Well, then. You should be careful as to where you place your grimy, little fingers." She casually threw up a hand, "These books are expensive! And people like you should handle them with gloves or, better yet, not at a-a-" but before she could finish, a small thud echoed from the back of the room. She immediately turned around to see that a book had slid off one of the top shelves and was resting on the floor. Frantically, she began walking toward it, whipping her head back one last time, her glasses nearly flying off her face. Glasses are always for show, these days.

"It's closing time. You should leave now. And don't even bother to put anything back, since only _we_ are allowed back. You'll just mess everything up." With that, she was gone.

Sighing, I finished stacking the pile of books. I picked the book I was about to read back up and, after surveying the room, slipped it into my small pack, making sure its corners wouldn't be noticeable. The lights began flickering to indicate that the Library was about to close. When I got to the door, I dropped my pack, flattening it with my foot, and carefully slid it under the sensors. Sometimes, I believe the sensors are just for show, since hardly anyone comes to the Library and even less come to check out books. Once outside, I swung the pack over my shoulder and began shuffling home.

I looked up and saw the last cloud drifting by with a small, feather-like tail. Then I remembered the woman and shook my head.

Book-Keepers. It's been generations since their very first coronation or whatever. There are rumors that they-we, everybody-didn't used to be like this. Everything was more open-more _free_. People were seen playing in areas made for them, eating together, or even just walking around for no reason other than for the sake of walking. Sometimes, these people even carried books with them...and everybody knew how to read them.

When I reached the steps of my house and reached for the door handle, I paused. What kind of world would that be?

**Author's note: I'm not a skilled writer, I know. So this is just story is just for fun.


	2. Chapter 2

"You know what they say about Readers?" Toph bit into his apple as he continued, "They say they still exist with every generation that's born. Not a lot, but a few. It's-" Chomp. "It's a wonder how the Scholars can keep up with them! I read that they test every child that's born by taking a few drops of their blood." He swallowed, "If they pass, well, great! If they don't, well, they conveniently become sick. Just like all the other felons and undesirable people who think like them." Cass and I looked at each other. Cass pulled out her pony-tail, allowing her wavy, brown hair to fall behind her broad shoulders.

Cass rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. We all know that the Readers were just people of the past. Seriously, Toph, we've had a few history classes together to know better than that."

Toph looked up thoughtfully then leaned over, "Oh, you mean about how the Readers were just simple people, like you or my man, Jiggle-butt over here?" He grabbed the young man sitting beside him in a headlock, his Wit cap falling off, revealing perfectly golden hair. They wrestled for a few seconds as the boy easily slipped out of his grasp, quickly flipping his captor over his shoulder and unto a small bush. I could hear the laughter being stiffled from the others in our group.

Toph jumped to his feet, brushing off the tiny, green leaves, then smoothed back his hair as if nothing had happened.

"Well, sorry to break this to you, Christopher, but we live a _civilized_ world and have eradicated almost all possible threats. Heck, if we wanted, we could even have vaccines for our vaccines! Isn't that right, A?" Davin looked over at me, his eyebrow raised. Everyone calls me "A," mostly because I don't feel comfortable with my name. It's still new to me.

I shrugged, "Sure, Davin." And then I laughed.

* * *

FIFTEEN. Fifteen days until our school ends and our lives as adults begin. We'll take our finals over the course of the next few days, but those are just for show. We all know that the real test begins just after we graduate, when the Institute of Scholars and Scientists administers our Aptitude Tests. Nobody really knows how they work since they wipe your memory clean as soon as you finish, but there are still rumors that are whispered here and there. They line you up, give you a blank bracelet, then stick you in a room of two or three people. From there, it's a mystery, but every person who comes out somehow ends up with a blue bracelet. It becomes our duty, then, to make sure our bracelets remain mostly blue in order to ensure that we are behaving according to our honorable Code of Morals, Ethics, and Behavior.

I stared at the calendar for a few minutes. As a child, I remember watching my brother doing the same, exact thing. Rather than studying for his examinations for school, he would spend all his time exercising or watching the soldiers from behind wired fences. Their uniforms were simple, yet clean, despite the white-based color. The blue accents that trailed the front of their jackets and down the sides of their pants would often disappear whenever the uniform was programmed to change its design. He knew this is where he was to be. This is where he wanted to be, and all he had to do was pass the AT in just the right way. Sadly, he did. I was 14 years old when he did and 17 when I stopped hearing anything from him. It's been almost five years since then, and I have had enough time to think of it. The military has changed since then. You can barely see what was left of the old military motto on their building, buried under the bright blue and white words: "To Protect the World from Harm and the People from Themselves."


End file.
